


She's Looking A Little Green

by unholygrass



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Background - Freeform, Backstory, Family, Gen, Pre-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-28
Updated: 2017-11-16
Packaged: 2019-01-06 11:46:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12210666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unholygrass/pseuds/unholygrass
Summary: Katie Holt was born to pilot the Green Lion, and her father knows it-Even if he doesn't realize it.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to get this out of my drafts so i finished it. Another short and sweet story. there will be a reunion chapter next, I just couldn't find the proper break so I figured i would make it two chapter.

Sam Holt can tell that his daughter is different.

 

He could tell from the moment he laid eyes on her, his baby girl bundled up in wires and tubes, sealed off from the world while her tiny body struggled to breathe with lungs that weren’t finished developing.

 

He tells his wife later that day while she emerges from the drugs of the surgery, asking for her baby and panicking when she’s told no. He speaks to her in low tones, hand raking through her sweaty hair as he tells her that “Yes, she’s in the NICU, but she’s strong and we can go see her soon.”

 

His beliefs are strengthened when his seven year old son casually mentions how excited he is to tell his friends about his new baby sister. As a parent he has the duty to gently prepare his son for the possibility that Katie might not make it- that she may never get to come home- but when he does Matt only answers with “She will. I can tell.”

 

And she does. She grows and squirms and snags onto anything that comes near her tiny little fist.

 

Sam Holt is so overcome by the his new family dynamic that he almost forgets about the strange vibes that radiate off of her. Somewhere between watching Matt drag half of his bedroom furniture into their outdoor tree house and learning that Katie can and will disappear the literal second someone looks away from her, the aura that radiates off of her becomes normal and is pushed to the back of his mind.

 

Despite her rough start, Katie grows up strong, even if she takes after her brother and remains short and skinny. His wife struggles to find clothes that fit her, but eventually gives up when Katie only wears his brother’s clothes half the time anyway. Her grandmother sews her a few beautiful dresses, which Katie wears graciously, if rarely.

She’s five years old when she discovers what space is. She has been staring at the glowing plastic stars in Matt’s bedroom for all her young life before she finally asks just what they are.

 

Once she knows about space, there’s no quenching her curiosity to learn.

 

He’s reminded of the strangeness that surrounds his daughter a few years later when he lays in bed with his wife, and she asks if he’s seen how Katie always has dirt under her nails even though she rarely plays outside.

 

She also asks him if he’s been watering the plant on top of the fridge. She hasn’t watered it for months, and neither has he, but it’s still alive.

 

They forget about it.

 

Sam continues his work at the Garrison, leading the research department in an upcoming expedition to the moon of Pluto. It’s exciting work- and what's more, his son might be able to join him. Every night when he comes home, he relays everything he worked on to his daughter and son, and once Matt begins working with him at the Garrison, the two of them keep Katie updated together.

 

It’s obvious that she’s just itching to get into the Garrison and begin her classes, but she is still too young by three years. Sam is fairly certain she will not be able to wait that long.

 

Matt teaches her computer programming and physics in order to hold her over. She latches onto everything he says with rapt attention. Matt has always been fascinated by space as well as a good learner, but Katie seems to be driven by the concept of running into space and never looking back.

 

Colleen is a physicist, and while she does not work at the Garrison, she follows their conversations with ease. She’s quiet while their children shout at each other about whether or not the surface of Saturn’s moons could sustain life, but later when they lay in bed together, she glows with how obviously proud of her children she is.

 

Katie's involved in the launch to Kerbolos all the way up the the celebratory gathering the night before. His wife makes them a fantastic dinner and they don their uniforms while his Colleen helps Katie button up her dress. She hasn’t worn it since last spring, but it still fits and it’s the most formal thing she owns. The party is small, all bureaucrats and financial donors, but he talks to them all and keeps an eye on his kids so they don’t disappear to go exploring around the offices again.

 

That night when he kisses Katie goodnight, the aura that follows her around seems so strong that he swears she’s vibrating green.

 

It’s a very strange thing and he thinks about it for several hours while he and his crew ride up to the moon.

 

After everything goes to hell, he forgets about it for awhile. He’s too focused on surviving and listening for any sign that his son and Shiro may still be alive. The prisons are always full of whispering hopes, but he’s a man of science, and it’s hard to believe anything he hears without proof. Proof that he would be able to hold his son in his arms again and shake Shiro’s hand. Proof that Earth hadn’t been conquered and that his beautiful wife and daughter had survived.

 

Eventually his thoughts dwindle down from even there. He struggles to think of anything except how badly his back aches and how his feet won’t stop bleeding.

 

And then he feels it.

 

It’s vibrant and vigorous, so strong that it wakes him from his fitful sleep. The other prisoners around him don’t stir, and he briefly wonders if perhaps he’s finally lost his mind.

 

A sudden rush of feral energy sweeps by hard and fast, and he recognizes it- he swears he does. But his memories have been organized into two distinct categories: life before capture and life after, and the before section has become strictly off limits lest he fall down into a pit of despair while he longs for his family and home.

 

He doesn’t even consider that the feeling may have existed before he had been kidnapped.

 

He falls back asleep.

 

A few days later and he hears all the whispers rise once again. Whenever the prisoners catch word of anything remotely exciting, it gets blown around the camp like a rallying cry.

 

This time they say “Voltron was here- was here in this galaxy.”

 

And for some unknown reason, Voltron sounds like _Katie._

 


	2. The Green Lion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam Holt escapes the work camp and witnesses the Green Lion for the first time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't planning on making this more than one chapter but I don't know this just felt right to write. Another cliff hanger though so sorry about that lmao. I just got to that part and it felt like the right place to end the chapter. I'll have the next part up soon.

_ And for some reason, Voltron sounds like  _ **_Katie._ **

 

He isn’t sure exactly what to do once he hears that Voltron has been in their galaxy. It could mean absolutely nothing. Most of the whispers that floated through the camp only resulted in heartbreak as the prisoners dared to feed their hopes only to have them wretched away again. He had not bothered to focus on anything other than survival for a very long time, but the sound of Voltron makes his stomach do a little flip that makes him stupidly dizzy. 

 

He sees green tinting the edges of his vision occasionally. He hopes he’s not started hallucinating. 

 

He decided more information is needed.

 

“Voltron was here? What does that even mean?” He’s got a vague idea that Voltron is some kind of war machine, but he knew no more than that.

 

“Voltron- they call it the defender of the universe- or I guess,  _ defenders _ of the universe. It’s made of five different ships- robots- things-” His youngest companion stumbles over the words, uncertain of himself but desperate to be helpful. He was from a distant planet that not even the most well traveled of prisoners had heard of, but he was kind and so  _ so much like Matt.  _

 

Sam leans forward, brain soaking in each word to be thought over later. 

 

“It’s piloted by five paladins, and the ships all look like lions. When the five lions come together, it makes the shape of a bipedal, and most people say it has yet to be defeated by anything.” 

 

“I heard they take damage from Zarkon’s witch, but that not even her could take them out.” A voice popped up behind him, one of the older species whose name Sam had forgotten. Their conversation had attracted the attention of a few more prisoners, and he makes sure to keep his eyes on the guards so they would not look too suspicious. 

 

“The technology is Altean, but I heard the paladins weren’t.” Sam thinks that makes sense seeing as that he had heard all the Alteans had been killed on one of Zarkon’s murderous revenge streaks. 

 

“They’re the only real fighting force the rebels have right now-” One of the more reckless boys says excitedly, and half of the elders look over their shoulders to make sure that the word  _ rebel  _  had not been overheard. Watching people be dragged off for beatings for the most innocent of reasons tended to put everyone on edge. 

 

“They started a whole fighting force. I heard that they’ve liberated a fair amount of planets.” 

 

Sam mules over this. He’s curious, but leery of hope. The chances that he died before liberation was high- there were just too many unknown variables. He was a strong willed man- he had kept a bright attitude about survival for several months until he had been removed from Matt and Shiro. After that his moods had plummeted and he struggled to keep from falling into a dangerous pit of self destruction. He had previously been a commander, honored by his peers for his scientific accomplishments. He had been with his family and done everything in his power to support and love them- now he was a number in a degrading system meant to erase people from sight in an endless war. Forgive him for his bad attitude. 

 

However each time  _ Voltron  _ is mentioned, he sees his daughter in the back of his brain. Her green vibrating aura overcoming all other senses. It creeps up his spine and whispers  _ “I’m coming. I swear.”  _ in a voice that should most definitely not be in space. 

 

It’s become impossible to imagine Katie sleeping in her bed at home now. For some reason he just knows that  _ she’s here- here in space. And yes, she is coming. _

 

It scares him wittless. 

 

Three days later he finds that perhaps his attitude wasn’t quite as pessimistic as he had originally thought. Voltron had been sighted  _ again _ , which meant they were still in the galaxy, and had yet to be shooed away by the Galran forces. He finds that a rekindled flame ignites in his belly with the hope of  _ maybe there will be a life for me outside of this camp.  _

 

For the first time in months he allows himself to think about what he would do should he be freed. He wants to go home-  _ god he wants to go back to Earth-  _ but he knows that he would not be able to without finding his son and Shiro first. He would never survive the guilt, and that’s assuming he managed to connect with the locals and acquire a ship and communication abilities. 

 

_ So many unknown variables.  _

 

When the guards start disappearing, Sam knows that it is time to leave. Voltron was here, and the Galrans would not want to leave any survivors to be rescued. 

 

It’s impossible to round up everyone and get them to escape, so Sam relies on what he hopes is an universal instinct and tells people a direction to go and tells them to  _ run.  _ Sure enough, when the other prisoners see groups split and go careening for one direction, they all follow. Sam cannot see all the prisoners running to escape, but he can feel the desperation and energy driving their herd onwards. The Galrans set off some spare explosions, hoping to kill some of their escapees, but their efforts are weak and uncaring, and the herd has already outrun them. 

 

He’s always been in decent physical shape, but after weeks of malnutrition and dehydration, he had suspected that running thousands of yards away from the camp would have caused him to kneel over right there and perish on the spot. Fortunately for him, the green tint in his vision has completely overwhelmed his senses and consumed his body, driving him forward with an unknown extraterrestrial force that he knows is otherworldly but still tastes like home on the back of his tongue. His thoughts contain nothing other than  _ Don’t trip don’t trip  _ and  _ where is Voltron? _

 

A few hours later and they all have front row seats watching as the Galran base next door to the prison complex is ambushed by Voltron in all its glory. The remaining Galran forces surrender, and it becomes clear that Voltron must have been planning this and cut off all communication lines, giving the prisoners enough time to escape without having to deal with any backup forces from other brigades. 

 

The hill he stands on is purple and gold and the prisoners standing next to him reek of mud, urine, and sweat, while the sky is beating down from a sun that seems far too close to their planet to be safe. 

 

Voltron stands in front of them, metal gleaming and lions formed together in strong formation. Sam wants to run up to it, to bang on the metal until someone lets him in- someone who should be on Earth but now he is almost certain is not. 

 

But he knows he can’t. He can see a few of the prisoners drop around him, older species who were in no physical shape to have run as far and as hard as they had with the meager nutrition  they had been given. The animalistic instinct to keep up and survive had filled them with enough adrenaline to last the run, but now that they were out of immediate danger, some of the weaker prisoners were dropping like flies.

 

So instead of running up to the strange heros like a madman, he turned to the others and wove through them to do what he could to keep them alive for help. He didn’t have a full understanding of their physical bodies, but he hopes that the basics still apply. He ushered some into the shade and sent some stronger boys to a nearby stream to collect water with whatever they could find. Rest and replenishment right?

 

No amount of focus on helping other however could have completely distracted him when Voltron split into separate ships, five massive lions that moved with the grace of something wild and feral while still managing to come off as helpful and civilized.

 

He wonders briefly if perhaps he’s thinking too much into this.  

 

Before he knows it there are strangers in the crowd, talking to anyone and everyone who approaches them, motioning at the lions and even helping some prisoners board. He wonders where they will take them. 

 

He wonders where she is.

 

He abandons his efforts and wanders forward, slipping through the crowd with enough urgency that no one tries to stop him and no one hesitates to help let him through. He thinks he may be speaking, but he’s spotted the Green Lion now, and every comprehensible thought he may have had seems to go flying out the window. 

 

The lion is looking at him. He is not imagining it. He can feel it piercing him with its gaze, his soul slipping out from his body and resting on his tongue. 

 

He knows that lion. He’s never seen it before in his life, but he knows it. It was born early and struggled to make it through it’s first night in the world. It was skinny and wild and always had dirt beneath its nails. It chased Matt into his treehouse with a fake cockroach and wanted to play the trumpet in the 6th grade. He had a picture of this lion in his wallet back home on Earth. 

 

And then the lion finds him. 

 

_ “Dad!” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please review!


	3. Alive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They live on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All done. This story was meant to be very short and sweet and thats why each chapter is so short. Time for the next one.

He doesn’t have to look for his daughter to know where she is. He can feel her sprinting through the crowd the same way one feels a thunder shake their house in the middle of a summer night. He cannot see her, and he knows that she cannot possibly see him- but her lion has a very clear view of him from her proud stance, and sure enough he can see the crowd splitting for someone. She’s a whirlwind of chaotic energy hurling towards him, and one moment he is standing in the blistering heat of a foreign planet, alone and uncertain, and in the next moment his entire universe explodes and his young electric daughter has smashed into him and wrapped her arms completely around him, hugging him until he feels the air mashed out of his lungs. 

 

There’s only a moment of shock before he realizes that he’s already got his arms wrapped around her and lifted her up from the ground, enveloping her fiercely enough that it looked as though he could scare the universe off if it so much as looked at his daughter wrong. 

 

He can think of nothing more than the physical weight of her for a long time- the proof that she was real and that he had not completely gone mad. She’s tangible in his arms. She’s real. 

 

He can think of nothing- and then he thinks of everything at exactly the same time. 

 

_ She’s shaking- like she’s going to shake out all of her bones- or maybe the armor that she’s wearing. _

 

_ She’s not babbling- Katie always babbles when she’s overwhelmed- is she in shock? Has she grown out of it while I was away? _

 

_ She’s not grown at all actually.She used to wrap herself around us like a sloth like this all the time before I left, and it’s exactly the same. She’s no heavier.  _

 

It becomes clear that Katie is not going to speak and she is not going to put her feet on the ground until she wants to. There will be no convincing her. It’s a welcome thought that his little hellion is just as stubborn now as she used to be. 

 

He sits down in the dirt, legs splayed out in front of him and daughter in his arms. His head rushes with what could be any number of things but he assumes it to be happiness. They sit like that for several long minutes, and the attention attracted to them from their reunion dissipates as the moments pass. 

 

She actually startles him when she speaks against his collarbone. The words are unintelligible and hitched, and he feels bad for having to ask her to say again. 

 

In a flash she’s leaned back so he can she her face, words spilling out of her mouth. “I’m so sorry- Youwereso close- andIdidn’tsee- I didn’t find you-” Her face is a mess, flushed red and shiny with snot and tears, but her eyes are bright and  _ burning _ and she is  _ alive.  _

He tries to help her, hand cupping the back of her head while he convinces her that  _ No. You saved me. You have. You and your lion and your energy and presence and brother and mother-  _ and eventually she starts breathing like maybe the world wasn’t crushing her lungs, and maybe she could keep carrying on.

 

“You cut your hair.” He grins at her and gives a gentle tug on one of her sweaty curls, and when she snorts at him he knows that he’s succeeded in calming her. Her hands lay in her lap, twitching and twisting together, a nervous habit that she picked up from her brother. She fears his judgement for her actions, for entering space and changing herself. 

 

“It suits you. Makes you look more like your mother.”  _ Like your mother, not your brother.  _

 

She smiles so big he’s afraid her face might split in half. 

 

It takes four minutes for four other teenages in matching suits to find them on the ground, and he knows that he is now in the presence of all five of Voltron’s paladins. He stands carefully, tugging Katie up with him, and lets the honor and relief wash over him in waves. 

 

“The Paladins of Voltron.” His daughter scrubs roughly at her face for a moment before stiffening her spine and taking a step back, falling in line with two other boys who step forward to meet her. They looked like they could start glowing from the happiness they seemed to share with his daughter simply for finding him. 

 

Looking Shiro in the eyes again is a gift from the heaven itself- a promise that just because they had fallen into the hands of the galra, they were not dead. 

 

“Sir.” Shiro’s always been a remarkable soldier, but when Sam steps up to him Shiro has already moved to meet him in the hug he must have predicted. 

 

They are alive. 

 

Later, once some of the commotion has settled down, Katie grabs his arm and pulls him aside, bringing up a picture on her armor. “Matt is alive. This rebel group busted him out of Betatraz three weeks ago. I’ve tracked their positions since then, and I am very close to finding him.” He kisses her forehead and excuses himself to one of the Castleships restrooms.

 

He sits against the wall. And he cries and praises a god he struggled to believe in. He shakes with glee and tries hard to to laugh with hysteria. 

 

**_They are all alive._ **

 

When he comes back out, it is obvious that Katie has been worried, but that Shiro (God bless the man) has purposely distracted her. Hunk, the largest and sunniest of them all announces he is making a feast- something easy on the stomach for sam but still a feat nonetheless- and herds them all into the kitchen. He considers himself in a rare place of opportunity. He does not know how he knows that this is a special honor rewarded too few- that few people ever get to see the paladins interacting together and making a ruckus. He sits with them, dizzy and overwhelmed and maybe a little in shock- but he is still aware enough to see that his beautiful daughter has in fact changed while he was gone.

 

It was wishful thinking to hope that she would not, but once he recognizes the change for what it is, he no longer resents it. 

 

Katie stands among them scrawny and short like she could go toe to toe with any of them on any day. Her spine is straight and her hair is wilder than ever- she is easily the smallest, but there is nothing about her that makes her stand out. She is apart of them, and they are apart of her. They seem to move as one and yet they manage to spark with their own distinct parts.

 

Katie is green. Greener than ever. In this ship, she is glowing. 

 

Lance is blue. Grinning with mischief and ready to learn.

 

Keith is red. Quiet but burning, and easy to make laugh.

 

Hunk is yellow. In his element and comfortable with himself.

 

Shiro is black. Protective but lively, and Sam can still see the student within him. 

 

He knows that they were born this way, feral and striking, unsure of who they were supposed to be but always destined to get there. 

 

Katie has gotten there all on her own, launching herself into space with no plan to get back home. 

 

She is green and different and vibrant and she is alive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please review!

**Author's Note:**

> please review


End file.
